Miami Herald: “Mucarsel-Powell goes up on TV”

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell began airing her first TV commercial Tuesday as she seeks to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo in Congress.

Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat who came to the U.S. from Ecuador as a teenager with her mother and three older sisters, is using the ad to introduce herself to Florida’s 26th district, which stretches from West Dade to Key West.

“I came to this country from Ecuador at 14, searching for a better life,” she says in the ad. “With hard work, I found it. So I’ve always worked to give back. As associate dean at FIU [Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine], I helped those who couldn’t afford health care get it.”

Mucarsel-Powell’s campaign said it made a “six-figure ad buy” on cable this month, with plans to continue running ads through the fall.

She faces a primary opponent in retired Navy Cmdr. Demetries A. Grimes, an underdog running a shoe-string campaign. But with $1.6 million raised through the beginning of July and the backing of House Democrats, Mucarsel-Powell is expected to face Curbelo in November.

Curbelo, who himself faces a nominal primary challenge from Souraya Faas, released a social media ad Tuesday. You can see his ad, first reported by POLITICO, here.